Last year, on June 23, twelve young boys—members of the Wild Boars youth soccer team—and their coach were unexpectedly trapped inside an underground cave system in Thailand. When flood water quickly and unexpectedly rose, their exploration went from fun and exciting to frightening and dangerous...and fast. The water blocked off their exit and trapped them inside, with their only option to go deeper into the cave. They were trapped in the cave for over two weeks before cave rescue teams from China, Myanmar, Laos, Australia, the UK, and the United States finally reached them on July 10.

Cave rescue is very dangerous and offers no room for error. The smallest slip or bump could cause the geography to change dramatically, permanently preventing rescuers and rescuees from escaping with their lives. The rescue teams tasked with recovering the soccer players and their coach knew that if something bad was going to happen, it would most likely occur on their way out. They understood that the twelve young boys had been trapped for a while and were frightened. The chances of one or more of them moving unexpectedly was very high, and that could cost everyone their lives. Rescuing them in such a vulnerable and fragile state would be very difficult, if not impossible. As a result, the rescue teams administered doses of ketamine to each of the boys. Due to its fast-acting sedative and regulative effects, the boys all managed to remain calm and level headed while they were instructed to maneuver themselves, one by one, through the narrow passes of the cave.

This is a great example of the positive effects that ketamine can have on someone, and why ketamine is such a valuable drug. Despite it only being administered in a single dose in this situation, it shows how quickly and effectively it works. Like the boys, many people have a cave they need to escape from at some point in their lives, and maybe more than once. It could be an especially deep cave if you suffer from severe depression, anxiety, PTSD or another psychiatric disorder. Fortunately, just like the young boys, escape is very possible with the help of treatments like ketamine.

Ketamine has been in use since the 1970s, and has proven so valuable that the World Health Organization lists it as an essential medication due to its impressive anesthetic and analgesic qualities. While ketamine for cave rescue isn’t exactly common, the availability of the drug made it possible—and there are hundreds of other instances, from the battlefield to the emergency room, of ketamine being the saving grace in an otherwise hopeless situation.

Contact Vitalitas Denver

Over the years, Vitalitas Denver has performed thousands of ketamine infusions, helping to alleviate the symptoms of postpartum depression, severe depression, suicidality, PTSD, anxiety, and more. If you or a loved one are struggling with these or any other psychiatric condition, ketamine may be the treatment you’re looking for. Contact our ketamine clinic today to learn more about how this innovative and highly-effective treatment could change your life.

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One of the leading causes of disability in the U.S. is major depressive disorder (MDD), affecting more than 16.1 million adults each year. Another perhaps more shocking statistic is that about 80% of those people never seek treatment, for various reasons. However, one of the main reasons why so many individuals fail to seek treatment is because of the stigma associated with having a mental health condition. A stigma that, unfortunately, is alive and thriving in our society today.

Last year, on June 23, twelve young boys—members of the Wild Boars youth soccer team—and their coach were unexpectedly trapped inside an underground cave system in Thailand. When flood water quickly and unexpectedly rose, their exploration went from fun and exciting to frightening and dangerous...and fast. The water blocked off their exit and trapped them inside, with their only option to go deeper into the cave. They were trapped in the cave for over two weeks before cave rescue teams from China, Myanmar, Laos, Australia, the UK, and the United States finally reached them on July 10.